Al-Jazeera

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After a series of high-level meetings to discuss press freedom concerns with Egyptian officials in Cairo this week, it was heartening to hear that journalists Mohamed Fadel Fahmy and Baher Mohamed had been granted bail after more than 400 days in prison.

New York, February 11, 2015--The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Egyptian authorities to drop the charges against imprisoned Al-Jazeera journalists Mohamed Fadel Fahmy and Baher Mohamed, whose retrial is scheduled to begin on Thursday. A court said it had ordered the retrial because of lack of evidence leading to their conviction of "conspiring with the Muslim Brotherhood," which the government has declared a terrorist organization,according to news reports. In June 2014, Fahmy was sentenced to seven years and Mohamed to 10 years.

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February 1, 2015--Al-Jazeera journalist Peter Greste, who was serving a seven-year prison sentence in Egypt for "conspiring with the Muslim Brotherhood," was deported today, according to Egypt's state-run news agency. Greste, who is Australian, was arrested in December 2013 with his colleagues Mohamed Fadel Fahmy and Baher Mohamed.

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The Kenyan press is being caught in the crossfire as authorities seek to strengthen defenses against terrorists. On December 19, Kenya's president signed into law a security bill that has the power to stop the press covering terror attacks. The government has also recently criticized the media over allegations that special units are carrying out extra-judicial killings, and a local journalist who reports on security issues has gone into hiding after receiving threats.

More than 200 journalists are imprisoned for their work for the third consecutive year, reflecting a global surge in authoritarianism. China is the world’s worst jailer of journalists in 2014. A CPJ special report by Shazdeh Omari

New York, December 11, 2014--A correspondent working for Al-Jazeera's Arabic website, Aljazeera.net, was killed Wednesday night while covering clashes between rebel and government forces in Syria's Daraa province, the outlet reported today. Mahran al-Deeri is the fourth journalist to die covering fighting in and around the village of Sheikh Miskeen in the past three days.

Chinese President Xi Jinping issued tough words on the visa woes of international media outlets today, arguing that journalists facing visa restrictions had brought trouble on themselves and signaling that there will be little respite for the international media in China.

"I want to send a message to the world; there is no need for defending honorable Egyptian journalists." That's what Egyptian Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb said on World Press Freedom Day this year, speaking at Al-Ahram state newspaper. The same day, Al-Jazeera English Bureau Chief Mohamed Fahmy was roaring in an Egyptian court: "I want to defend myself, but I don't know how!" He was later handed a seven-year prison sentence, and several of his colleagues also received jail time, in a sham trial.

Dear President Obama: The Committee to Protect Journalists, an independent, nonprofit organization that promotes press freedom worldwide, is writing to express its concern about the effects of intelligence and law enforcement activities undertaken by agencies, over which your administration has oversight, on the free flow of news and other information in the public interest.

New York, September 17, 2014--The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the release on bail of two journalists in Egypt and calls on authorities to free the 11 other journalists still behind bars. The move comes days before Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi is set to address the United Nations General Assembly in New York, according to news reports.